20th ILO Regional Conference for Labour-based Practitioners

The 20th ILO Regional Conference for Labour-based Practitioners was held from 19-23 May 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Conference was hosted by the Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure through the Ethiopian Roads Administration, and co-hosted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) through the Employment in Investments Branch (EMPINVEST) and the ILO Country Office in Addis Ababa.

Theme: Resilient communities and healthy environment: the Employment Intensive Investment (EIIP) approach

Under this theme, Conference participants discussed and shared experiences on policies and strategies that maximize the social impact of development investments. The goal was to forge a path towards social justice, ensuring a more sustainable and prosperous future for all individuals and communities.

Focus Areas

The 20th Regional Conference aimed to draw the attention of national and regional governments, the private sector, and development partners to policies, strategies, and programmes that promote job creation, skills learning, and business opportunities for young women and men in Africa. The whole world is currently grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and active conflicts that threaten global order and affect the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. This conference provided a platform to reflect on these challenges, their impact on economics and people of the region and to suggest mitigation measures focused on employment, employability and environmental stewardship. High quality papers covering the conference sub-themes and topics were presented in the course of the event including research and technical works, case studies and technology updates.

Side events

Side events enhanced the conference discussions by allowing for deeper engagement on employment-intensive infrastructure development, job creation and sustainable labour practices. These events fostered interactive dialogue, knowledge sharing and networking among key stakeholders, promoting collaborative solutions to today's labour market challenges.

The previous Regional Conferences have been held in various African countries drawing practitioners and other interested stakeholders from Africa, America, Asia and Europe to share views, experiences and review developments in employment creation and building resilient communities. Conference participants come from a range of institutions, including policy makers, employers’ and workers’ associations and labour-based technology practitioners, NGOs, Academic and research institutions and the private sector.